Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of State, Ministry of Finance, in a written reply to Lok Sabha has said, “The closure of travel and tourism industry due to Covid-19 had a cascading effect on the livelihood of people dependent on tourism. Ministry of Tourism has engaged NCAER to conduct a study on ‘India and Coronavirus pandemic: Economic losses for household engaged in tourism and policies for recovery’.” he also stated that considering the challenges faced by tax-payers due to outbreak of covid-19, the government has taken several taxation measures to improve the liquidity in different sectors including tourism and hospitality.

IndiGo Airlines will start direct Mumbai-Agra-Mumbai flight starting 29th March, 2021. The thrice-a-week flight will operate on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. It will depart from Mumbai at 10:50am and will arrive in Agra at 12:55pm, and will again depart Agra at 13:25pm and arrive in Mumbai at 15:35 on the same day.

SpiceHealth has launched the country’s cheapest Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) testing facility for the general public at just INR 499/-. Also, SpiceHealth has tied up with SpiceJet to offer a special price of INR 299/-, which is one-third of the prevailing market rate, for its passengers who wish to get the crucial Covid test done and thus contributing to making flying even more safe and convenient. Avani Singh, CEO, SpiceHealth said, “After testing over a million people in Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana and Haridwar and working closely with the respective local governments, SpiceHealth has now come forth to offer the cheapest and fastest RT-PCR testing directly to the people taking forward our goal to maximise testing. We are proud to extend our quick, seamless and smooth testing facility to the public at large in Mumbai and Delhi, to start with, and we strongly believe that testing remains as important as ever in our fight against this pandemic as that’s the only way to quickly identify, isolate and treat those infected.”

Air Seychelles is all set to resume commercial passenger flights between Mumbai and Seychelles, starting from Thursday, 8 April 2021, in line with the air bubble agreement between India and the Seychelles. The flights from Mumbai will operate on Thursdays and Sundays, whilst the returning flights from will operate on Wednesdays and Saturdays. All travellers to the Seychelles, regardless of vaccination status, must present a negative PCR test certificate taken 72 hours and complete the mandatory Health Travel Authorization at seychelles.govtas.com prior to departure from Mumbai. Travellers will not undergo quarantine on arrival but will need to wear a face mask in public places and social distance. Travellers to Mumbai in addition to the negative COVID-19 PCR test will need to self-report on the airsuvidha portal and undergo 14 days home quarantine upon arrival.

Dan Whitehead, Senior Business Development Manager, Premium Ticketing and Corporate Accounts, Lancashire Cricket, Emirates Old Trafford, shares that the VisitBritain Cricket Carnival is a fantastic initiative and the lucky winner of this contest will get a special hospitality package for one full day at the Century Lounge of Emirates Old Trafford. “The winner can enjoy a relaxed atmosphere and also enjoy the test match from an elevated balcony viewpoint or a reserved seat in the grand-stand below,” he said. To win, register on http://bit.ly/VisitBritainCricketCarnival or contact Vartik Sethi on vartik.sethi@ddppl.com or +91 83684 28139.

Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) has signed a 2-year long MoU with the Educational Tour Operators Association (ETOA). The plan aims to develop tour products for schools, universities and other educational institutes for international field trips and study tours. “I am excited to work with ETOA to make South Korea the No. 1 choice of Indian schools and universities for their international field trips. Korea is one of the safest countries in the world and also one of the global leaders in technology and manufacturing. It is the ideal destination for students to know and learn about the future. By the end of our MoU team next year, I am confident we will have a fully developed self-sustaining Korea travel product category,” said Young Geul-Choi, Director, KTO New Delhi office.

India Tourism, Singapore, is organising a series of webinars cum B2B sessions titled ‘India Tourism Reconnect’ in the ASEAN region on March 11, 16 & 18, in line with the global vaccination drive. The aim is to reconnect the Indian tourism industry with stakeholders in key markets and start preparing for resumption of business as and when it is announced. The virtual meets will start on 11th March with a focus on Philippines followed by Malaysia (16th March) and Singapore (18th March). Apart from the MOT and State Tourism Organisations, leading tour operators, luxury hotel chains, river cruise and luxury train operators are also participating in the B2B session of the virtual event.

TAAI in association with Gujarat Tourism is organising the TAAI Tourism Conclave at Statue of Unity, Kevadia from 9-12 March. The Conclave scheduled today is aimed to bring members together and brainstorm on importance of Domestic travel & new ways & opportunities for the industry. Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI said, “TAAI is constantly involved with the government to establish correct procedures & support our membership to adopt transformation & to continuously improve our ability to explore, achieve & prosper.”

In an interaction with Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA, while speaking on opening borders in 2021, Arvind Singh, Secretary, Tourism, said, “Yes, there will be some sort of reopening. It all depends on the result of vaccination programme in India and abroad. However, I am sure that at least there wold be a partial opening of some regions of the world in this calendar year.”

Ashok Institute of Hospitality & Tourism Management (AIH&TM), a certified hospitality training institute under India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), has introduced a tailor-made program in ‘Entrepreneurship Development’ exclusively designed for graduates in the tourism & hospitality industry. The programme was formally inaugurated by Arvind Singh, IAS, Secretary (Tourism) at a webinar hosted by ITDC. Singh, said, “ITDC’s initiative to create entrepreneurs under its Entrepreneurship Development Programme is a very timely and welcome initiative with the support of Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) under their organizations namely National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology (NCHMCT) & National Institute of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD). All interested graduates, diploma holders, and professionals who have lost their jobs will be approached for enrolment under the programme. These are very tough times for the industry and we are working towards the revival of the sector. I wish the programme all success”. The webinar was convened by Shri. G. Kamala Vardhana Rao, IAS, C&MD, India Tourism Development Council (ITDC) and had in attendance eminent officials, including Atul Kumar Tiwari, IAS, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Neelam Shami Rao, IAS, DG, National Institute of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) and Gyan Bhushan, CEO ,National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology  (NCHMCT). Motivational talks and experiences were shared by Sh. Ritesh Aggarwal CEO, OYO Rooms & Sh. Abhinav Balyan, MD&CEO, Educator Extraordinaire Ltd. Under the ‘Entrepreneurship Development Programme’, graduates from hotel management institutes as well as recently unemployed and other experienced hospitality professionals would be provided with the non-financial support for running catering or hospitality-related establishments (canteen/café, Event Management, Manpower Services, Banquet services, …